


I'm Only Human, After All

by welcometomystic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Also it's purposefully cryptic, Because prison rates of mental health issues are so high, But he's not completely innocent either, Complex Hunk will be present I promise, Eventual Romance, Everyone is in prison pretty much, Except Hunk because Hunk would never, I feel it's important to mention it, M/M, No hard feelings but someone had to take the fall, Not even in my AU, Not that cinnamon bun, Oh and Lotor is a toxic dumpster fire in this AU, Prisoner Keith (Voltron), Prisoner Lance (Voltron), Prisoner Pidge (Voltron), Prisoner Shiro (Voltron), Same with Haggar lol Haggar is a right bitch, Songfic, There will be mentions of mental disorders but I will be as accurate as possible, Veteran Shiro (Voltron), Wow look at me being political, as always
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 08:45:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18312212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/welcometomystic/pseuds/welcometomystic
Summary: “We, the jury, in the case of Lotor Daibazaal versus Takashi Shirogane, find the defendant… guilty on both charges: sexual assault and domestic violence, both in the first degree.”Shiro felt his head swim and watched as his vision started to bleed black around the edges as he processed what the Jury Spokesman just indicated, blind panic on the brink of consuming him as his brain floundered in its attempt to make sense of this new information.Guilty. Guilty…Guilty.Wait, that meant-"The court will then sentence Takashi Shirogane to a total of 198 years in Federal prison—given the maximum sentence of 99 years for each charge—and $20,000 in fines without the possibility for parole, as he has been found guilty of all charges. Thank you, Jury, for your service today. Court is adjourned.”And, just like that, Shiro was doomed to several lifetimes in prison for crimes he didn’t commit.





	1. Don't Put Your Blame On Me

**Author's Note:**

> Lotor/Shiro is IN THE PAST BUT MENTIONED AND IMPORTANT TO THE PLOT NONETHELESS

“We, the jury, in the case of Lotor Daibazaal versus Takashi Shirogane, find the defendant… guilty on both charges: sexual assault and domestic violence, both in the first degree.”

Shiro felt his head swim and watched as his vision started to bleed black around the edges as he processed what the Jury Spokesman just indicated, blind panic on the brink of consuming him as his brain floundered in its attempt to make sense of this new information.

Guilty. Guilty… _Guilty_.

Wait, that meant-

"The court will then sentence Takashi Shirogane to a total of 198 years in Federal prison—given the maximum sentence of 99 years for each charge—and $20,000 in fines without the possibility for parole, as he has been found guilty of all charges. Thank you, Jury, for your service today. Court is adjorned.”

 

And, just like that, Shiro was doomed to several lifetimes in prison for crimes he didn’t commit.

 

~*~

 

 He'd had almost all of his items confiscated, changed into his new attire, and been photographed and fingerprinted. Now, he was being escorted to his new room.

"Coran?" The man taking him there, the warden, was named Coran, or so he told Shiro. Shiro didn't exactly know who or what to believe anymore, after what his fiance- no, his ex-fiance, Lotor did to him. "Who will I be staying with?"

"Well, my boy, you will be staying with a man named Lance McClain. Do you know that name?" The quirky warden replied with a slight cryptic air about him, twirling his bright orange mustache between his pointer finger and his thumb as he did so, Shiro's guards trailing along with them.

While Shiro considered this, he started to remember the pain cuffs brought to his hands while moving. He hated the weight of them, and the slight burn the metal gave. Of course, he supposed he would have to get used to it by now.

"No. Should I?" Shiro replied, and Coran soured a bit. It seemed the man didn't want to have stated the fact out loud, which only worried Shiro more than he already had been. Was this McClain guy really dangerous? Was he a rapist? A human trafficker? Was he... was he a killer?

"Well, his name was in the papers, but it has been a few years." Coran muttered, almost to himself, before speaking up again. "Your cellmate, Lance McClain, was convicted because he was a highly skilled serial killer. He was proven to have killed at least 12 individuals for several different reasons, before his ultimate arrest upon the attempted assassination of the President of the United States, along with the successful assassination of the Vice President of the United States."

 _Shit_ , Shiro thought. _Well wasn't he just royally fucked, now. The man who assassinated the VP of the entire country was going to be sleeping in the bunk directly above or below him. God, Shiro felt faint._

"Though, you didn't hear this from me. I really shouldn't be telling you this, but I do believe you have a right to know, my boy." Coran continued as if Shiro wasn't listening to the blaring sirens screaming _DANGER! DANGER! EVACUATE THE PREMISES!_ going off inside his brain. However, the man did seem to notice how terrified Shiro was (which wasn't a surprise, as Shiro tended to wear his heart on his sleeve, despite bootcamp having taught him to do the opposite several years ago) as Coran offered him a concerned furrow of the brows and a soft, but firm pat on the shoulder. "You'll be alright, Mr. Shirogane. Truly. Prison is not the best place in the world, by any means, but it's not always what the media makes it out to be either. That, I can promise you."

Shiro certainly hoped he was right, as Coran had since stopped walking and was digging through a key ring to find what Shiro assumed to be the key to the room in front of them. Shiro's room. With an assassin. 

Oh, joy.

Coran perked up again as if he hadn't just been attempting to comfort Shiro, which he certainly had, and continued, "Welp, with that out of the way," Coran found the key and plunged it into the lock. "Welcome to your humble abode!"

The door was flung open and revealed... a plain, sickly seafoam green room with two bunks that looked more like sad cots, a dingy sink, and a toilet caked in dirt. Not only that, but the entire room smelled like a locker room that had been out in the rain for a day and a half. The guards then ushered him further into the room and unlocked his restraints.

Shiro saw a head pop up slightly from the covers of the top bunk just as he heard Coran once more.

"And, with that, I bid you _adieu!"_ He called before quickly closing the door behind himself and the guards.

"Coran, wait-" Shiro called, but it was too late.

He was alone with the convict. With his cellmate. With a murderer.

 

"Well, hello, Hot Stuff." The voice of a man much younger than himself purred.

_"What?"_

The only response he had for a long while was uncontrollable, almost unhinged laughter.


	2. Heathens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro meets Lance, which is possibly the greatest surprise thus far.  
> Then, he meets Lance's friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is barely read through and very old, but I have none of my notes with me at the moment and it will be a hot minute before I do. So, have some unedited shit here. I’ll probably have to heavily edit it later but eh

Lance was positively **_CACKLING_** because of the poor guy's reaction. He looked scared _shitless!!_ Oh, it was rich! The new guy didn't seem to agree, though, as his face quickly heated up, sending a glare up at Lance. It was easy to ignore the glare, though, when the man was so gorgeous, all tall, dark, and handsome as he was. And oh, he really was. His eyes were a dark, espresso brown as he practically pinned Lance to the spot (or, rather, _tried_ ), and his hair was so brown it was almost black, with a nice, slightly grown out undercut. That was to be expected, though; he'd only just gotten sent here after weeks of jail and court proceedings. And, oh, was he buff. The man looked like he could bench LANCE, he was so well-built! He had a prosthetic arm, too. Nice one at that. Was he a veteran? Probably. He had that air about him, that was for sure.

"What's so funny?" Newbie asked, suddenly brave.

Lance stopped laughing almost as quickly as he started, throwing the blanket off his body and rolling to the edge of the bed before jumping off, just a foot away from Newbie. The man jumped a little. Good.

"I was just laughing because you looked so adorable, Sweetcheeks!" Lance shot back with a shiteating grin and a wiggle of his brows. "Adorable... and _sexy_."

"The name is Shiro, first of all." Shiro replied, avoiding Lance's heated gaze as much as possible as he spoke. "And, if you think you can trick me into dropping the soap or something, you've got another thing coming." Shiro's eyes shot up to meet Lance's as he puffed out his chest. "You may be a killer, but I can handle my own."

Lance certainly didn't doubt that, nor would he object to that body being pressed against his own for any reason at all. "Ooo, big words for fresh meat." He threw back at Shiro before circling him like a bird of prey, sizing him up. He'd be a pretty nice notch in Lance's bedpost, if he could get the guy to just fuckin' _relax_.

"Look, I'm not trying to start anything, here. I don't want any trouble, alright? I just want to take a nap before lunchtime. It's been a long day." Shiro replied, and Lance scanned his face. The man did look exhausted, and Lance certainly knew how that felt. He'd been there not too long ago, himself and, honestly, he knew Lance would never forget his first day in prison, for reasons he hoped Shiro would never experience. Sure, some things would be kinda funny to watch, but Lance had been small and easily intimidated then, and he'd had a much less-than-savory cellmate of his own.

"Alright," Lance replied in a soft, almost caring tone before he could catch himself, shocking Shiro enough that the man looked at Lance like he had two heads. "Get some rest, then."

And then Lance was climbing up into the top bunk so that he didn't have to disturb Shiro later. They still had some time before lunch, anyway.

"Um, thanks..." Shiro almost whispered back, obviously not wanting to assume that Lance wanted to be called by his first or last name, even though it was clear he knew who Lance was. He'd called Lance a killer, after all, and Lance knew he certainly didn't look like one. No one would just assume he was here for murder. It was probably Coran who told him, if Lance had to venture a guess.

"Lance. Call me Lance."

"Thanks, Lance." Shiro replied as he climbed onto his cot. For a second, there was no response, and he took the time to breathe in deeply and get ready for a well-earned nap.

"No problem, Shirogane." 

Shiro's eyes shot open as he gasped involuntarily.

Lance giggled before dropping his hand down, near Shiro's face and waving, as if to say that he knew why Shiro was here, but he was only joking around with him.

Shiro quickly swatted his hand away, but there was no heat behind the action. One could almost call it playful, if Shiro were any other place, and if he'd met Lance under any other circumstance. He wasn't in a playful kind of mood, though.

"Don't worry, Shiro. I know you didn't do it." Lance mumbled, as if he was on the verge of falling asleep as well, despite having just woken up. "You're too nice, too polite for that. I've met plenty of guys that have, and you're nothing like them."

Shiro couldn't help but smile a little to himself. At least someone believed him, and he hardly had to prove himself to them. Maybe he could learn to like Lance, despite how annoying he had been earlier. Maybe...

 

~*~

 

Shiro jolted at the sound of the door being unlocked loudly, keys clanging against metal and voices calling out to him and Lance to get up and start moving.

Lance jumped out of bed before he did, obviously used to this, but Shiro wasn't too far behind. He didn't want to get in trouble on his first day here, after all.

"Where are we going?" Shiro grumbled, shooting Lance a look so that he knew that he was the one being asked.

"Oh, we're getting lunch! Aren'tcha hungry, Hot Stuff?" Lance asked, all sunshine and rainbows all of a sudden, a large but natural smile blooming on his face before he started to whistle a little, happy tune.

Shiro chose to ignore the nickname, instead listening to his stomach rumble and wondering what kind of slop he was going to be fed. The jail he'd been in had food that wasn't too bad, but Shiro felt that maybe, since this is where the guilty guys went, they'd be fed something even worse.

He was wrong, of course, Shiro was glad to find as Lance led him to the lunch line and the two got their food.

"Why are you being so nice to me, all of a sudden?" Shiro asked as Lance as the younger of the two men led them to a less-populated table.

Lance stopped before he turned to face Shiro. "What do you mean? Would you rather I not be?"

"Well, of course not! I really appreciate it, I just... you were obviously trying to intimidate me earlier, but then you started treating me well out of nowhere, and I just... I wasn't expecting it, that's all." Shiro quickly responded.

Lance smiled a little, then picked up his pace once again. "And what _were_ you expecting, Shiro?"

Shiro sighed a little, realizing his reply would sound stupid or something, for sure, but he wanted to be truthful. He always prided himself on telling the truth. "Well, I was expecting... When Coran told me you were a serial killer," Lance quickly shouted _"I **knew** it!"_ before Shiro continued. "I thought you would be, like, twice my size, and that you'd either ignore me or beat the shit out of me. I was wrong. Then, after we met, I expected you to just keep trying to get in my pants or something while also not caring about me at all, and... I was wrong again. Now... Now, I don't know what to expect."

"Well, you should expect to make some friends." Lance replied, shooting a genuine grin at Shiro before sitting down to the right of a kid and flicking said kid on the ear. Shiro sat down next to Lance.

"OW!!" The kid yelled, whirling on Lance and smacking his arm while Lance howled with laughter, much like he had maybe an hour before, when his laughter was directed at Shiro. "What the hell was that for, Lance?!"

This kid looked maybe a couple years younger than Lance, which made him maybe 4 or 5 years younger than Shiro. His hair was almost jet-black and would have made the rest of the boy look sickly, if it wasn't for the fact that he wasn't as pale as he could have been. Maybe he spent more time training outside than in the weight room?

"Oh, c'mon Keith! You knew you had it coming after yesterday!" Lance shot back, sticking his tongue out at Keith, the boy whose ear had just been flicked, before Lance reached across the table to tap the person sitting in front of Shiro on the shoulder, though this time, Lance was a lot nicer. "Hey, Pidgeon! We got a newbie, here. Say hi!"

The other inmate looked up from their food for a moment before gumbling something like, "Hi, my name is Pidge. Do you want your mashed potatoes?" before going back to eating their food once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We stan Pidge, the hungry legend

**Author's Note:**

> This will be multiple chapters but I wanna leave it at 1/1 for now to see how many people like it. Sorry to be deceiving like that, if you only skimmed the tags and didn't see me hinting at more, but I hope it's justified enough for you all.
> 
> Also, I wanna try to stick to an uploading schedule sometime soon to see if that helps with my writing. It should, but if I don't upload for like over a week and a half, feel free to badger me in the comments. (Oml I've been watching and reading too much crime stuff, I was gonna say "feel free to badger the witness." Fuck me.)


End file.
